Graduate Student Funding

Training grants: Departments may award training grants to give graduate students opportunities to work closely and collaboratively with mentors and other graduate students on specific long-term projects. Primarily science, engineering, and social science departments offer this type of grant. The primary focus is on completion of the PhD. These grants cover the full expenses of the student and are awarded and managed through the Office of Contracts and Grants. Students should apply for these grants directly through their home department.

Fellowships: The Graduate School offers University of Colorado fellowships, diversity fellowships, chancellor's graduate fellowships, and Colorado graduate need grants.

• University of Colorado fellowships are awarded to entering and continuing regular degree-seeking graduate students on the basis of academic promise or academic success. Students holding these fellowships must reapply each year to their department for renewal. Students are nominated by their departments.
• The Chancellor's Graduate Fellowship Program, instituted in 1984-85, attracts outstanding students for graduate study at the University of Colorado. Selected students receive a stipend of $20,000 for two academic years and a full waiver of all tuition and fees. Recipients must be entering master's or doctoral degree students and be nominated by their department.
• Fellowships, traineeships, and scholarships are also offered by some departments.

NSF Graduate Research Fellowhips: Deadlines, forms, links and other information regarding National Science Foundation Graduate Student Research support.

The Department of Energy National Nuclear Security Administration Stewardship Science Graduate Fellowship (SSGF) Program provides outstanding benefits and opportunities to students pursuing a Ph.D. in areas of interest to stewardship science, such as high-energy-density physics, low-energy nuclear science, or properties of materials under extreme conditions and hydrodynamics.  Fellows also participate in research at a DOE laboratory. Benefits include:

•   Yearly stipend of $32,400
•   Payment of all tuition and fees
•   $1,000 yearly academic allowance

Further details about the program are available at the program website and from the Program Coordinator, Ms. Jeana Gingery at ssgf@krellinst.org.

Teaching and Research Assistantships: Departments may award teaching or research assistantships, which provide a stipend and a tuition waiver based on the percentage of time of the appointment.

Graduate Student Grants: Graduate students are eligible to apply directly to the Graduate School for some forms of financial assistance:

• The Beverly Sears Graduate Student Grant Program, sponsored by alumni, is a competitive program that provides small grants for research at the master's or doctoral level.
• Travel grants provide partial funding for students traveling to conferences outside Colorado to present their research.

Special Awards: The following two awards are determined through nominations from departments.

• Teaching Excellence Awards are given by the Graduate School to graduate students serving as part-time instructors who have demonstrated outstanding teaching skills in their fields of study.
• Through the Graduate Student Research and Creative Work Awards, the Graduate School recognizes graduate students who have demonstrated excellence in research or commendable creativity in their field.

Other Awards:

• Information regarding loans, work-study, and Colorado Graduate Grants is available at the Office of Financial Aid.
• Two web sites that offer graduate students additional information about grants, a free scholarship search, and other funding opportunities are: www.finaid.org and www.cos.com.
• Brown/Ricketts/Udick Grant awards three $1,000 grants to graduate women attending the University of Colorado. The 2008 deadline is April 4th.
• FLAS Fellowships for Asian language and area studies are available to full-time graduate students in any department or professional school who are taking both modern Asian language and Asian studies courses.  Fellows must be American citizens or permanent residents. 
• John W. Marr Ecology Fund provides grants for Ph.D. candidates doing field research in plant ecology in the Rocky Mountains or the Arctic.
• McNair Scholars are eligible to receive a waiver of the Graduate School application fee.
• UGGS Travel Grant sponsors graduate students who are planning to attend an academic conference.

Office of Financial Aid

• Federal Financial Aid:Students applying for financial aid should submit the graduate version of the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) as soon as possible after January 1. Please note beginning fall of 2008, you must be enrolled in at least four semester hours to be eligible to receive federal or state financial aid or to be eligible for a deferment on any of your federal loans.
• CU-Boulder Scholarship Guide for Graduate Students: A comprehensive guide on general scholarships, college/school/department scholarships, and donor information. The best way to apply is through the Office of Financial Aid's online scholarship application.
• Student Employment: The Student Employment Office posts an average of 600 part-time, on-campus and off-campus jobs for students who were not awarded work-study. The bulletin boards are located outside UMC 165, and the jobs are also posted on the available jobs page. For more information go to the Office of Financial Aid web site.

International Opportunities: The university encourages graduate students to apply for international research and study fellowships. The Office of International Education has information and advice on how to apply for different fellowships including Fulbrights and CU-sponsored graduate fellowships abroad.